The Dove and The Dragon
by PUNKYANGEL2469
Summary: A selfish prince. An open hearted peasant. Will she be able to break his spell? I do not own the plot nor do I own the characters.
1. Chapter 1

The Dove and The Dragon

Chapter 1

_Once Upon A Time..._

_ In a magical land, far, far away..._

_ There was a kingdom. An amazing kingdom ruled by a prince._

_ The prince was very materialistic. He had all he could ever want. Riches. Fame. Women._

_ No one ever saw the prince, which made him loved by the maidens of the kingdom whenever they caught a glimpse of his pale skin or his ebony locks._

_ He lived alone with his many servants, for his parents had died of illness years before. His servants spoiled him, and he often took advantage of them._

_ One dark, stormy night, there was a loud knocking at the large doors of the prince's castle._

_ The prince answered the door, meeting a hideous old woman on his door step._

_ She was hunched over, the rain beating down on her back, but she offered a warm smile with kind eyes._

_ "Your highness," her old voice croaked, "I ask you, out of the kindness of your heart, please allow an old woman such as me to spend the night in your magnificent palace."_

_ The prince hardened his face and glowered at the old woman._

_ Her smile faltered. "Please, if you fulfill my request, I shall offer you this." she said, and pulled her hand from under her cloak. In her fingertips she held a single rose, not yet in full bloom._

_ The prince snarled and waved the old woman away. "Off with you, peasant! I shall not have something so hideous crawling around my beautiful palace!" he said._

_ The old woman clutched the rose in her palm. "Be aware of your tone, boy." she warned. _

_ The prince scoffed at her insolence. "How dare you! Leave now, or you'll pay with your worthless life."_

_ A glow began to engulf the old woman, turning her from an old hag to a beautiful enchantress. Her old skin became young and lively, and her wiry hair was now flowing locks of pink. She was dressed in robes of reds, pinks, and white, the only feature standing out being her eyes the color of jade. The prince stared in awe, cowering back a bit as she looked at him with disappointment and shame._

_ "You give me no choice. I am Sakura, and I have come to test your kindness and love, none of __which you seem to possess." she stated and placed two fingers to the prince's forehead. "You, Sasuke Uchiha, are the age of ten and six. I place a spell on you. The only way to break my spell is to find true love by your twenty and first year of age. If you shall fail, on your day of birth, the last rose petal shall fall, and you will be under my spell for all eternity. And remember, dear prince," she finished, a coy smile spreading across her pink lips. "Things are never what they seem."_

_ With that, she removed her fingers from his forehead. A pounding resounded through his head and his skin began to tingle. _

_ He felt it in his head, his chest, and his limbs. Looking at his hands, he watched them slowly transform into beastly, scaly claws. His heart raced as he called out to the enchantress, begging for another chance to redeem himself. His body burned with the intensity of standing in a furnace, and slowly, painfully, the beautiful prince became a hideous, ebony dragon. His long, slender body slumped against the door, and he gave the enchantress one last sorrowful look. _

_ She disappeared, leaving the single rose floating before him._

_ He grasped the wretched thing in his claw, and clumsily stormed into his castle, his regal robes hanging from his body in shreds. He let out a vicious roar and the entire castle was engulfed in light, signifying that the spell was now complete._

_ The prince noticed that his subjects and servants had been transformed as well. They were now all different objects, ranging from candlesticks to clocks to chairs._

_ Ashamed of his horrendous change, the prince angrily confided himself to his room, where he roared with the thunder the remainder of the night._

_ "How am I supposed to break this spell, you wretched woman!" he shouted. He shredded the portraits of himself, broke the posts of his bed, demolished his treasures._

_ "Who could ever love a beast?!" he cried._


	2. Chapter 2

The Dove and The Dragon

Chapter 2

The air was crisp and fresh that morning.

Hinata Hyuuga quietly slid the door to her cottage closed, so as to not wake her cousin who had fallen asleep at his work desk the night before.

She smiled and adjusted the basket on her arm, and breathed in the fresh morning breeze.

She was always one of the first ones up in the village, unlike her cousin, Neji, who stayed up working on new medicines and cures all night, every night.

She lived alone with her cousin who was one year her senior. Hinata's mother died from illness, her father from grief. Neji's mother died in childbirth, his father from a beast attack in the woods. Neji's father was the last one to pass on, when Hinata was sixteen and he was seventeen, leaving them with the small cottage on the hill, overlooking the town.

The cousins got along quite well alone. Being part of a family of ancient medics, the Hyuugas did their best to live up to the lifelong expectations of becoming accomplished apothecaries. The two made their way by helping the local villagers, doing their best to put their skills at work. They were commonly known as the "Priestess and Monk" of the village, though they were simply peasants, just like everyone else.

The young woman crossed a stone bridge that connected her little stretch of land to the village, not surprised by the few familiar people who would also be up at this hour.

There was the baker, a well rounded man whom she had cured just last winter from pneumonia. He smiled warmly at her. " Good morning, Hyuuga-san." he said, holding out two loaves of warm, fresh bread, just as he did every morning.

Hinata didn't like taking things from others, but this was a well known routine, and she knew if she didn't take it from him, they would be on her doorstep later, in a basket with many other baked goods. She graciously took the bread, bidding him a good day.

There was also Koyuki, the mother of six. She was a slender woman, with pale skin and hair the color of sunshine. Neji had found a way to rid her of a family disease that was surely to take her life by now. The woman smiled to her, hoisting her new baby girl on her hip as she was being tugged at by her five other children.

Hinata gave her a small wave and continued on her way, noticing how crowded the main streets were getting. She hurried through the people, determined on her destination.

The library.

It was uncommon for woman to read in her village.

"Women were made to take care of the home!"

"To bear children!"

"An intelligent woman? That's absurd!"

Hinata had been hearing these words all her life, but ignored them.

She was a dreamer.

She read books of romance, adventure, magic... The very things she wished she had in her own life.

She'd started reading when she was thirteen. While her uncle was researching medical documents, she wandered around the library. She had never seen so many books and she was astounded.

Before the end of the day, she had read three books, and started on a fourth.

"Come, Hinata. Neji is ill. He mustn't stay here long." Hizashi, her uncle, said in a stern voice.

The young girl looked up from her place on the floor, clutching a book to her chest. "Uncle, may I borrow this book? Do you think the book man will let me?" she questioned.

Hizashi's usually stern face cracked a little, sending a smile her way. "Well, I don't see why not. Go ask him."

She scrambled up from the floor and hurried over to the man, asking to borrow the book. She left that evening, grinning from ear to ear, clutching the book tightly.

That night, while Neji was ill in bed, Hinata sat next to him and read the story.

"...and Jack hurried down the beanstalk, hearing the giant bellow in his loud, thunderous voice 'Fee, fie, fo, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!' Jack grabbed the ax and began to hack away at the beanstalk, sending the horrid giant tumbling to the ground!" she read with much emotion.

She stopped reading once she found Neji had fallen asleep.

Hinata quirked a smile as she remembered the stories she read to Neji. She entered the book store and looked around for the familiar old man. He appeared from behind a bookcase, dusting them, like he did every day. He noticed the young girl in the store and smiled at her.

"Ah, Hinata! Back again today?"

"Yes, sir! I finished the book I borrowed." she said and handed it to him.

Usually, he would have been surprised. But this was the girl who once read eighteen books in one week before. "You never cease to amaze me, Hinata. Anything you'd like to read?" he asked as he put the book on a shelf.

"Hmm..." She ran her fingers over the spines of the books, her eyes lighting up once she found one of her favorites. "Aha! This one!" she said, pulling the book out.

"Sleeping Beauty? But you've read this one four times!" he exclaimed.

"I love the story! A secret princess, an evil witch, magical fairies!" she replied, spinning in a circle around the store, caught up in her own imagination.

The elderly man chuckled at her. "Well, since you like it so much, consider it a gift from me." he said.

Hinata stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. "You mean it? I can have it?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course!" he said.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said, hugging the man. Her face was bright with happiness as she hurried from the store.

The gleeful girl didn't go unnoticed by watchful, lustful eyes.

Across the way stood the heartthrob of the village. He was tall, with skin like ivory and hair the color of red wine. He was dressed in expensive robes, all different shades of greens. He watched intently as his lustful desire passed before him, her eyes focused on the words in her book.

"Ne, Sasori-danna, isn't that the girl you were telling me about?" his partner, a slightly taller tan male, inquired. He blew his blonde fringe out of his face, revealing two cerulean orbs. "I can see why you want her, un."

A quirky smile painted itself on Sasori's lips, "Why yes, Deidara. That is her. Hyuuga Hinata, the most beautiful maiden in the village. And she will, without a doubt, be my wife."

Deidara smirked at the disappointed groans from the females who usually stalked his friend.

The blonde never had love on his mind, due to a curse a priestess had placed on him the day he was born.

Sasori, on the other hand, was the biggest playboy in all the countryside. He'd had countless women pronounce their love to him, all of which he dismissed quite coldly. He only had eyes for the Hyuuga Priestess.

Sasori moved from his place in the shade and set off after the young girl. Deidara was too busy silently poking fun at the disappointed girls to notice Sasori had disappeared.

"Oi, Hinata!" Sasori called out, attempting to get his voice over the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

The navy haired girl just went along her way, easily weaving through the people.

"Keh!" Sasori muttered, accidentaly knocking a lady's basket from her hands, but ignored her scoff at his rude actions. "Hinata! Hey!"

Hinata looked up and around for a moment, obviously hearing her name being called. But she simply shrugged and went back to her book, still walking as if she had 360 degree vision.

Sasori let out a low growl and began almost shoving people out of his way. He knocked over three children playing and an elderly man carrying eggs, all of which gave him glares.

Hinata had just reached the bridge when Sasori had finally caught up to her. He somewhat roughly grabbed her shoulder, breathing heavily. "Finally!"

Hinata turned and blinked at him. "Oh, Sasori-san, good morning." she said softly, a smile on her face, like always.

Sasori stood, replacing his cool facade. "Hey, Hinata." he replied, aloofly placing his hands on his hips.

Then a silence fell between them.

"Well... Good day, Sasori-san." Hinata spoke up, attempting to walk away.

"Wait!" Sasori yelled, grabbing her arm. "I was just thinking, maybe you'd like to come... Visit my new estate." he whispered seductively.

Hinata made a face and moved away from him. "Uh, no thank you. I think I'll pass." she said.

"Oh! What's this!" Sasori teased as he snatched Hinata's book from her grasp.

"It's a book, Sasori-san." she stated, annoyance evident in her voice.

"Ugh, Hinata why do you read? Where's the enjoyment in that?" Sasori whined, flipping through the pages. "And there aren't even any pictures in here! A complete waste." he said, tossing the book to the ground.

Hinata squeaked and moved to catch it, but Sasori wrapped an arm around her waist. "Hey, why not come with me? I can make you happier than you can imagine." he purred.

She turned and pushed him away from her. "Thank you," she spat, "But maybe some other time." She leaned down to retrieve her book, brushing the dirt from the spine. "I really should get home to help Neji-nii."

Sasori snorted. "Hah! The Mad Monk? Of course he needs help! He is mad as a hatter!"

As if on cue, a large explosion came from her house.

Sasori erupted with laughter as Hinata hurried over the bridge and down the path she had came. "Neji-nii!" she called, worry in her voice.

"Good luck helping that twit!"

* * *

"Neji-nii!" she called as she entered the house.

A purple smoke filled the air and she waved the putrid fumes away from her face. She hurried to Neji's study and opened the door, more purple fumes coming from the room.

"Nii-san?" she asked, trying to find her cousin in the foggy room. She moved to the window and threw them open, letting the fog filter out of the house.

Neji was on the floor, covered in black and purple soot, coughing rather violently. Hinata moved to him, helping him to his feet.

"Hinata-sama?" he questioned, blinking several times, tears falling from his eyes to rid them of the gas.

"Hai, Neji-nii, I'm here. Are you alright?" she asked, guiding him to the kitchen.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." he reassured her.

She grabbed a rag and dampened it, then pressed it to his eyes.

"What on earth were you making in there, Nii-san?" she chuckled.

Neji lifted the rag from his eyes to look at her. "Oh, well. I got a letter from a family in the northern part of the country. It seems that a woman's new born baby was born with blue skin! Can you believe it? They believe that the baby is ill, so they wanted me to come and heal it." he stated. "So I was just experimenting with some different potions and antidotes... But it didn't go as I had planned." he mumbled.

Hinata nodded, forcing him to place the rag back on his eyes. "When do you leave?"

"I'll be heading out tomorrow morning." he replied, sitting still as Hinata wiped the soot from his cheeks.

* * *

_Extra: Deidara's Curse_

It was the middle of winter.

A newborn baby's cries resounded throughout a silent household.

Tears flowed from his father's eyes as he watched the pink skin of his wife grow gray.

"I'm so sorry, Higurashi-sama, the strain was just too much on her..." the doctor whispered, bowing his head respectively, handing the baby boy over to his father.

The man gently took the little bundle and looked at his son, whom was crying loudly.

Days later, he sent for a priestess.

"Are... Are you sure about this, Higurashi-sama?" she questioned.

The man's hard expression answered her question.

She uneasily moved near the baby's crib, hovering her hand above his sleeping figure.

"Deidara Higurashi, hear me." she said, closing her eyes. "From now until the day of your end, you shall never know the pain of love. Have no other desire you. For you shall desire no other." she whispered. She then pressed her fingertips to his forehead.

Deidara's father held him that night, gently rocking him back and forth.

"Don't worry, son. Don't worry... You'll never have to feel this pain. Never... Never..."

* * *

End Chapter 2


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